"I really should write that down somewhere…"

The Jesuit Guide to Almost Everything by James Martin, SJ

A friend of mine recommended this book to our book club, and she feels very strongly about it. I am really enjoying this book and can’t recommend it highly enough for, oh, Everyone. I mean Everyone. It’s awesome.

The best part is that he doesn’t begin by assuming his readers are Catholic, or even Christian, or even that they believe in God! He begins with seeking God in general, according to six paths to belief, from the path of independence to the path of return. There are so many wonderful and interesting insights into people’s search for spirituality! See the second chapter for details.

Having gone to a Jesuit university myself, I know a little bit about Jesuit mentality. Not as much as I thought I did, though. I wish now that I had delved a little deeper and begged to be invited to Jesuit House for dinner. Therefore, I very much enjoyed the Jesuit jokes sprinkled throughout. The Jesuits are known for their academic rigor, their social justice streak, and while they do not think they are holier than God, they might think they are smarter on occasion. Ha!

An example of a Jesuit joke appears on page 317. “Here’s a joke about discernment: A woman asks her local priest ofr advice. “Father,” she says, “I have a little boy who is six months old. And I’m curious to know what he will be when he grows up.”

The priest says, “Place before him three things: A bottle of whiskey, a dollar bill, and a Bible. If he picks the bottle of whiskey, he’ll be a bartender. If he picks the dollar bill, a business man. And if he picks the Bible, a priest.” So the mother thanks him and goes home.

The next week she returns. “Well,” said the priest, “which one did he pick: the whiskey, the dollar bill, or the Bible?”

She says, “He picked all three!”

“Ah,” says the priest, “a Jesuit!”

My experiences with certain Jesuits worried me a little bit, but I was pleasantly surprised by the deep spirituality of this book, not to mention its defense of certain things people question about the priesthood, such as celibacy and obedience. This author has a serious knack for explaining things in simple terms, without watering it down.

A quote on celebacy and chastity, and yes, he does explain the difference, also. Pg. 226-227:

“Ultimately, as Shelton says, the vow becomes not something that you do, but something deeper. “In the novitiate, if someone asked me why I don’t have sex, I might have said, ‘Because it violates thevow.’ Now I would say, ‘That’s not who I am.'” Married couples also may relate to that last statement. In the movie Moonstruck, when a married woman is propsitioned by a friendly manher own age, she declines by saying, “I know who I am.” It’s about integrity and commitment.

He goes on to say how he’s available to his students at Regis University, and that time would rightly go to his family if he had one. … “But there is something more,” he says. “I’ve come to realize that I wouldn’t trade those moments, and the enduring relationships that have been forged after the students graduate, or the times that I’ve been available to a student in a crisis, for a life with a wife and kids. Chastity provides me with something I wouldn’t have if I were married, and which means just as much. This is what I would call ‘special’ for me.”

On page 222, he brings up another point I wouldn’t have thought of: “Chastity also helps other people feel safe. People know that you’ve made a commitment to love them in a way that precludes using them, or manipulating them, or spending time with them simply as a means to an end. It gives people a space to relax. As a result, people can often feel freer with tehir own love.”

And lastly, because for some reason everyone must always bring up scandal, his explanation is perfect, on pg. 221:

“By the way, chastity doesn’t lead to unhealthy behavior. The sex-abuse crisis in the Catholic Church was, as I see it, more about a small percentage of psychologically unhealthy men who should have never been admitted into seminaries or religious orders in the first place, and some bishops who should have never shuttled them from one parish to another, than it was about chastity per se .”

And now for obedience. Ultimately he does a very nice job of explaining how he almost quit the Jesuits out of pride over a decision requiring his obedience, and how very glad he is that he stayed. Thus, some of the best parts in this book are about discernment in all walks of life.

Pg: 269: Many readers who have a problem accepting this aspect of obedience may have an easier time accepting a more practical reason: someone needs to be in charge. Managing a worldwide religious order, as Ignatius did, required one person, one ultimate authority, to guide the work. So the vow of obedience is always, as are the other vows, “apostolic,” that is, it helps us to carry out our assignments more effectively.

Actually, I’m always surprised by the number of people who scoff at obedience in religious orders yet live it relgiously in their own lives. Many people who work in professional settings report to a manager…. I saw many longtime employees tranferred to faraway locations, yet they would never think of complaining because they were so devoted to the company. These decisions are seen as necessary to achieve the organization’s goals — as are decisions in a religious order.”

Honestly, the best parts of this book are on prayer and on discernment, and he gives wonderful examples of Ignatian sprituality and Jesuit life. He has several steps for decision making and prayer. I really am amazed, and think everyone should buy a copy. I know I need to.